The Surprising Thing That Happens To Your Body When You’re In A Long Term Relationship

When you’ve been with your partner a while it’s natural to take on their hobbies, their favourite TV programs or their sports team, but new research has revealed the surprising similarities you develop when it comes to taste.

A study out of the University of Wroclaw looked at 100 heterosexual couples aged 18 to 68, who had been together for three to 540 months. They tasked each person in the relationship with tasting and rating a variety of flavours – sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami. They found that the longer a couple had been together, the more similar their taste preferences were.

Considering how much time you spend eating with your significant other this makes complete sense.

Writing in the journal Appetite, the researchers state: “As partners share a household (including a kitchen and fridge) and a significant proportion of meals, they are more likely to eat similar types of food.

“Even though the role of genetics in accounting for individual differences in food preferences is well documented, shared environment and habits, and consequently exposure to similar olfactory and gustatory stimuli, might together shape similar preferences in both partners.”

So if you hate his dodgy cooking now, you might come to love it if you stay together long enough.